Charity book a recipe for success

Kirstie Topp

Mackie’s of Scotland has published its first book of recipes to help raise money for charity.

Staff at the company have dreamed up, tested, tasted and agreed on a collection of 31 recipes – both sweet and savoury, from each main product range – in support of muscle-wasting charity Muscular Dystrophy UK.

Harriet Shaw, Sales and Marketing Executive at Mackie’s at Taypack Ltd and one of the authors of the recipe book, said: “Muscular Dystrophy UK is Taypack’s charity of the year and we wanted to do something special to help raise funds as we have a personal link to the charity.

“Along with the team in Aberdeenshire, we came up with the idea of a recipe book that features seven popcorn, six crisps, four dips, seven chocolate and seven ice cream recipes.

‘Cooking with Mackie’s’ features creations by both Mackie’s staff on the farm in Aberdeenshire and Errol-based Mackie’s at Taypack – the joint venture partner company that produces the brand’s popular crisps and popcorn.

Colleagues were asked to test out their suggestions at home and bring them into the office for tasting, before being finally ready to gather all the ingredients and get cooking, for their own photoshoot.

Nikki Nangle, Marketing and Design Executive at Mackie’s of Scotland, said: “This book of recipes is intended to be a fun and tasty collection of recipes which are easy to make at home –and provide interesting ways to enjoy our products.

“The project is dedicated in part to our friend and colleague, the late Denis Emslie, who contracted one of the lesser known forms of Muscular Dystrophy and who was himself committed to finding ways to help others with the condition.

“This book of recipes is one little way we can contribute. It has been a homemade team effort which he would have encouraged and we hope it will raise awareness of the condition and funds for the important work done by the Muscular Dystrophy Scotland charity.”

Both sides of the business have witnessed first-hand the suffering and effect that the condition causes, galvanising the desire to raise the funds.

Both Denis, long-term staff member and former Sales Director at Mackie’s of Scotland, and Mark Taylor, brother of Taypack’s Managing Director, George Taylor, sadly lost their lives to forms of Muscular Dystrophy.

The book, which will be priced at £12.99, will be available from Thursday, June 14, at Mackie’s 19.2 parlour in Aberdeen.